BougeRV water heater overview: scorching showers to go

Hot water is like web connectivity for many Verge readers: you simply anticipate it to be there. But that’s unlikely to be the case this summer time when tent tenting at a music pageant or road-tripping into the good unknown. That’s the place BougeRV’s battery-powered bathe is available in.

The $310 “Portable Propane Outdoor Camping Water Heater” from BougeRV will not be solely optimized for search engine discovery, it additionally delivers an expensive spray of scorching steaming water to the unwashed, be they human, canine, or cussed pots and pans. Charge up the battery, connect a propane canister, drop the pump right into a jug of water, and also you’re able to get sudsing.

It’s so helpful and versatile that I’ve ditched my plans to put in a everlasting bathe cabin and costly scorching water system inside my journey van, even when I don’t fully belief it.

My present moveable bathe consists of an 11-liter water bag, a handbook foot pump, and a sprig nozzle. To make it scorching, I’ve to warmth water on the range or hold the bag within the solar for a number of hours, but it nonetheless prices over $150. For $310, the BougeRV heated bathe looks as if a cut price.

The BougeRV system can produce a most warmth output of 20,500 BTUs — about half of a typical residential fuel water heater. It measures 15.75 x 6.7 x 14.57 inches (40 x 17 x 31cm) and weighs 13.2 kilos (6.21kg), making it compact and pretty light-weight with two large handles for straightforward carry. The hoses and cabling make it just a little unwieldy — able to chaos inside a small area except dealt with with care.

Assembly begins with screwing in a simple to seek out one pound (454g) propane canister that attaches on the rear of the unit. That’s the scale BougeRV recommends, however you wouldn’t be the primary to as an alternative run a hose out of your RV’s present propane tank to the strain regulator on the water heater. Two quick-connect water hoses — labeled blue and pink for idiot-proof attachment — route the water out of your chosen receptacle, by means of that fuel furnace, and out by means of the showerhead. The lengthy 2.5m (8.2 toes) bathe hose permits for versatile placement of the heater.

The small water pump measures simply 2.24 inches (5.7cm) throughout, so it simply suits by means of the opening of ordinary jerry cans. The pump is electrically powered by the BougeRV unit, which is powered by its rechargeable battery, an AC wall jack, or 12V adapter that plugs into the cigarette jack of your car or photo voltaic generator.

The 2500mAh / 12V (30Wh) built-in Lithium-ion battery takes about three hours to cost from the included charger. A full battery and one-pound (454g) canister of liquid propane fuel can pump out about an hour’s value of scorching water earlier than each run dry. The bathe’s fuel consumption price is 20MJ/h.

Alternatively, it can save you fuel with a protracted press on the pump button to place the bathe into chilly water mode — ultimate for rinsing off your mountain bike, mountaineering footwear, or moist swimsuit, for instance.

The dial on the entrance of the heater controls the scale of the flame. I did a handful of assessments, beginning with water measuring between 13 and 16 levels Celsius (55–61 levels Fahrenheit) in keeping with the show on the BougeRV water heater. With the dial turned all the best way to the left, the water pouring from the bathe head rose to 23–25C (73–77F) after only a few seconds. Turned all the best way to the appropriate, the temperature maxed out at a steamy 34–41C (93–105F) in about 30 seconds.

Recycling the water could make it even hotter, should you dare. After two or three cycles on max, the heater boosted the temperature above 51C (124F) earlier than the unit shut down with an error, by design. It’s not meant to exceed a median water temperature above 50C (122F). A easy on/off reset the E6 error.

Water movement is between 2.2 and three liters per minute — properly under what you possibly can anticipate from a 9 to 12 L/min movement of a contemporary house bathe. That’s nonetheless acceptable, in my view, and much superior to nothing, which is the everyday various when tenting away from house. The bathe head has a rocker swap to toggle between hardish, blended, and tender water movement charges in addition to an on/off limiter button to assist preserve water between lathers.

It’s surprisingly quiet even with the pump turned on. There’s some speedy clicking to ignite the fuel (adopted by a whoosh of flame) every time the movement of water returns, and the pump produces a low-level hum that’s rapidly drowned out by the sound of spraying water.

The water heater can also be protected against tilts, bumps, and an empty water supply. When I leaned my overview unit over about 30 levels, the unit shut off. It additionally shut off routinely after two minutes of making an attempt to pump from an empty bucket. A grasp override on/off swap on the button prevents the unit from turning on by accident if the on/off button on the entrance is bumped throughout transport or storage.

I’m impressed by BougeRV’s water heater, however I’m just a little involved about its sturdiness over time. After utilizing it on the seashore on a windy day, I bumped into bother as soon as I returned inside: the heater didn’t warmth and the water was lowered to a trickle out of the showerhead. It’s doable that some sediment trapped within the strains lowered the movement price under the 1.2L/min required for ignition. Nevertheless, the problem was resolved after a couple of minutes of fidgeting with the hoses and filters, and turning the unit on and off once more.

BougeRV provides a two-year guarantee and says the water heater is rated at IPX4. So whereas it’s proof against splashing water, there’s no assurance supplied towards mud and blowing sand.

I do have just a few different gripes. Those hoses generally is a tripping and snagging hazard, and the plastic clip meant to carry the showerhead to one of many lifting handles is simply too weak to maintain it from rotating and spraying your environment. I additionally want BougeRV bundled the heater with an adjunct bag to hold all the facility adapters and hoses. And when placing the system away, you need to tip it ahead to empty all of the collected water from the inlet and outlet — there’s no computerized expulsion mechanism.

But actually, these are trivial points for what the unit does at this value.

Prior to this overview, I had been within the late planning levels of getting a bathe cabin, water pump, fuel heater, extra-large water tank, and all vital plumbing put in in my Sprinter van. Total value: about $4,000. I’m now satisfied {that a} moveable system like what BougeRV provides is a greater possibility. Why pay a lot for one thing so everlasting that’s solely used a couple of minutes every week, for possibly half the yr?

Instead, BougeRV’s $310 moveable water heater can operate as an outside bathe throughout the summer time months or be moved inside (with air flow) when coupled with a transportable bathe curtain and basin, all for lower than $600. That feels like a greater use of my cash, and possibly yours should you’re an aspiring vanlifer.

And when the van is parked, I can carry these scorching (or chilly) jets of water anyplace my adventures may take me: to scrub up after mountain biking within the muddy forest or kitesurfing within the salty sea, to clean the canine exterior after rolling in shit once more, or to take a refreshing bathe throughout a sweaty four-day music pageant.

A near-identical water heater is bought beneath the Ranien and Camplux manufacturers, however these have bigger 4000mAh (48Wh) batteries and record for between $349 and $399. So it would pay to buy round.

Photos by Thomas Ricker / The Verge